This list gives you Scripture to read, pray and reflect on when your church marks an anniversary, whether it is the first year of a plant or the centennial of a historic congregation. It is written for pastors preparing a service, lay leaders writing a letter of thanks, and members who want to remember what God has done among them. Each verse points back to God’s faithfulness across time and forward to the work still ahead.
The passages below share a common thread: they look backward with gratitude and forward with trust. Each one reminds a community that the God who started a good work is the same God who will finish it.
Verses for Remembering God’s Faithfulness Over the Years
When a congregation pauses to count its years, the first temptation is to focus on numbers, buildings and milestones. These passages move the eye from the ledger to the Lord who was present through every season, including the ones nobody wrote down.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5 (WEB)
Psalm 100:4-5
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
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This psalm invites a gathering to come through the gates with thanksgiving. On an anniversary, read it aloud as a call to worship, then ask each member to name one specific gift the church received in the past year.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
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Even in a book full of grief, this passage declares that God’s mercies are renewed each morning. Remember a hard year your congregation survived, and let this verse explain why you are still standing.
Deuteronomy 8:2
You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
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Moses urges Israel to remember the long road God led them along. Walk through your church’s history with this verse in mind, recalling the detours and lessons that shaped who you are today.
Verses for Looking Ahead With Hope
An anniversary is also a doorway. These verses turn the congregation’s gaze toward what God is still doing, reminding the community that the story is not finished and that its next chapter rests in the same faithful hands.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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Paul is confident that the God who began a good work will complete it. Speak this over your church’s next season, and write it on a card to hand to the newest member who joined this year.
Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
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God declares that he is doing a new thing, even when it is hard to perceive. Use this verse when planning the coming year, asking the leadership team to name one fresh step the church can take in faith.
Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
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Paul praises a God who can do far more than we ask or imagine. Pray this passage over the church’s vision statement and let it stretch your expectations toward God’s power.
Joshua 4:21-22
21 He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
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Joshua instructs Israel to explain the memorial stones to their children. Consider placing a simple marker or photo display in the foyer so that future members learn the story behind the church’s years.
Verses for Gratitude Toward the People Who Built the Church
No church is built by one person. These passages honor the faithful members, pastors and volunteers whose quiet work sustained the congregation through every year, and they remind the community that every gift is ultimately grace from God.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7
6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
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Paul says one plants and another waters, but God gives the growth. When thanking those who served, name specific people and their contributions, then point together to the God who made the growth possible.
Romans 12:4-5
4 For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
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Paul describes the church as one body with many members, each belonging to the others. Invite members to share a short testimony of how another person’s care shaped their life in the church.
Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
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God is not unjust to forget the work and love shown to his people. Send a handwritten note to a long-serving volunteer this week, telling them that you noticed and that God notices too.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
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Paul urges believers to let the word of Christ dwell richly among them, teaching and admonishing one another. Let the anniversary service include a time of shared songs and testimonies, letting the church teach itself through its own story.
Acts 2:46-47
46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
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The early believers met daily in homes and temple courts, sharing meals with glad and generous hearts. Consider a simple fellowship meal as part of your celebration, so that the joy of the anniversary is shared around actual tables.
How to Use These Verses
Choose two or three passages rather than trying to read them all at once. Write the verses you select on a banner, bulletin cover or slide, and let the anniversary service move from one verse to the next as a rhythm of remembering, thanking and praying. Pastors can weave the passages into the sermon and the prayers, while lay leaders can read them at the start of a committee meeting or at a members’ gathering.
Read the verses slowly and out loud. Ask the congregation to reflect in silence before speaking, and invite testimonies that connect a verse to a specific memory in the church’s history. Over time, these readings can become part of how your community marks each year, turning an anniversary into a lasting habit of gratitude.
A Short Prayer for Church Anniversaries
Lord, we thank you for every year you have carried this church, through seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow. You were present in the early days when we were small and uncertain, and you remain with us now as we look back and look ahead. Forgive us for the times we forgot to thank you, and help us to remember your faithfulness with honest and humble hearts. Bless the people who gave their time, money and prayers over these years, and show us what you want to do in the years to come. Amen.
